Erdoğan unveils major affordable housing project

ISTANBUL

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Oct. 24 announced details of the “Housing Project of the Century” at a ceremony in Istanbul.

Under the plan, the Housing Development Administration (TOKİ) will build 500,000 social housing units across all 81 provinces.

At the ceremony Erdoğan provided the details regarding the size of the houses to be built, the payment terms, and who will be eligible to benefit.

The project, promoted with the slogan “A Home for Türkiye,” aims to help low-income citizens buy homes with affordable, long-term payment options. It also seeks to ease soaring rents in Istanbul and improve access to safe rental housing.

According to the Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change Ministry, TOKİ has already built 1.74 million social housing units. This new initiative will be the largest in the country’s history.

Under the new initiative, For the first time, TOKİ will also introduce rental social housing. These units will be offered at half the market price to eligible citizens, providing relief for tenants facing high rents.

Erdoğan said that this project will be a turning point not only for Istanbul but also for Türkiye.

“In the 'Century of Türkiye,' we are launching the housing project of the century, starting our mobilization for 500,000 social housing units,” Erdoğan said at the ceremony. He highlighted that out of these units, 100,000 will be designated for Istanbul, with homes to be constructed on both the European and Asian sides of the city.

“We have reserved a 10 percent quota for families with three or more children. We will provide 30,000 new homes in Ankara, 21,000 in İzmir, 13,000 each in Bursa, Gaziantep and Konya and 12,000 each in Hatay and Diyarbakır,” he added.

“The homes to be built will consist of 2+1 and 1+1 units and the houses in the project will be sold at a price of 1.8 million Turkish Liras, with monthly installments starting from 6,700 liras,” Erdoğan said.

“All of our homes will be designed in line with low-rise architecture and traditional style,” he added.